Aaron Ramsey insists he will stay at Arsenal for the season rather than leave in January, after confirming the club withdrew the offer of a new contract.
The Wales midfielder revealed he thought an agreement on fresh terms was in place and though he chose his words carefully he was clearly saddened at the sudden change of circumstance.
An improved four-year deal had been sorted but before the final version was written up Arsenal pulled out a fortnight ago. It is believed Arsenal need to cut the wage bill after two seasons out of the Champions League and manager Unai Emery has other midfield targets.
Ramsey has been at Arsenal for 10 years and it is expected foreign clubs will propose pre-contract agreements for next summer when the winter window opens. Sportsmail revealed Juventus's interest on Thursday.
It is also thought Premier League sides will look at signing the 27-year-old for a cut-price fee in January, but Ramsey said he wants to stay at the Emirates until his current deal runs out on June 30, 2019.
'Of course, yeah,' he said. 'I am contracted to Arsenal and I am going to do my best now this season to try and achieve something special.'
He added: 'Everything has been going great with the club. We thought we were in a position where we had agreed a deal but that's no longer the case.
'So I just have to carry on playing my football and do my best for Arsenal this season and I'll leave the rest with the club now.'
Asked if he was disappointed that the contract offer was withdrawn, he replied: 'That's a decision they have made. Things happen in football and you just have to get on with it and carry on playing the best you can. That's all I am concentrating on.'
Ramsey was speaking after Wales lost 4-1 to Spain in front of 50,232 at the Principality Stadium, the first match at the ground since 2011.
'It was a tough game,' said Ramsey. 'Spain are a very good team and especially in the first 30 minutes we got caught out. That was the most disappointing thing.
'We created a few opportunities on the back end of the first half and a couple in the second half but we lost to the better team.
'We just have to hold our hands up and we weren't good enough. Spain capitalised. They beat the runners up of the World Cup in Croatia 6-0 last month so they are in good form at the moment and we couldn't live with them at times.'
Tylerwest
271
He’s a “goal scoring midfielder” whose goal scoring record isn’t all that great. He’s scored 16, 11, and 10 goals in all competitions in his 3 best season for the club, averaging 7 over his last three seasons. Many of those goals have come in cup games and European group matches. His next best season had him scoring 6 goals. When you compare that to someone like Frank Lampard, Ramsey’s not even in the same postal code. He has a great engine and his vision is pretty good, but his passing is average, his defensive ability is average, and his dribbling and technical ability are just above average. I like Ramsey and he’s got some great qualities, but he’s far from irreplaceable. I feel like if Ramsey didn’t have such a history at the club, and the broken leg incident, people‘s opinions of him would be much more critical.
Barnard
231
It's really quite shit on Arsenal's part that this is how it's ending. He's spent what will certainly end up being the longest portion of his career, and potentially the best portion of his career, at this club. 10 years. In that time he's been nothing but loyal (okay, maybe he mentioned in an interview once or twice that he'd be keen on playing abroad at some point, but really what player wouldn't be), you can't accuse him of ever not working hard and making incredible efforts, we've got two major trophies that on the day came down to him, he's become a leader and a mentor amongst the team, he's never once had an unkind word to say about the club
Anthonyer
202
I think this is the new team (Raul+Sven) making a decision about a player that they simply don't think is worth that money. Additionally three exciting young players with potential have emerged for our midfield since the summer; Guendouzi, Torreira and Smith-Rowe. Combined with Maitlan-Niles coming back and Iwobi continuing to improve and being adaptable position-wise, I think we are kind of stacked in midfield. They simply do not see the value in extending a player that is left over from Wenger's reign. Yes, Emery said Ramsey was important to him initially, but he has had a chance to look at him for a few weeks now, and balancing the team might be easier without him.